Membership of the Club is open to anyone with a genuine interest in natural history, local history and archaeology, particularly of the Whitby area. There are three categories of membership: Ordinary Members, Junior Members, and Honorary Members (by election only).

Benefits of membership. All Members receive the Club's Annual Report, and information about Club events. They may also access the Club website's forum. For Club events open to non-members, charges levied for participation are lower to Members than to non-members, and Members are prioritized when booking is required.

To join. People wishing to join the Club should complete an application form available for download here (rich-text-format, PDF, MS-WORD 1997-2003, MS-WORD 2007 onwards) and posting it together with a cheque (payable to the "Whitby Naturalists' Club") for the current year's subscription to the Club's Membership Secretary. The Membership Secretary's postal address is on the application form. Where membership fees are due, membership of the Club will only be confirmed on payment of the first year's subscription.

Subscriptions. The current membership rate for Ordinary Members is £10 (or £5 for those aged below 21 on 1st January AND in full-time education). For those joining after 30th October, the subscription paid will cover their membership until the end of the following year. For Honorary Members and Junior Members, membership is free. Payment is due on 1st January each year. Membership can be renewed by sending a cheque payable to the Whitby Naturalists' Club to the Membership Secretary (Rick Harwood, Intake, Aislaby, Whitby, YO21 1SX, UK) or in cash at meetings of the Club where the Membership Secretary or Treasurer is present. For those with on-line banking, it can also be paid digitally [bank: National Westminster Bank; sort code: 55-81-14; account number: 07511728] and, when making the payment, please identify the person(s) for whom membership is being renewed.

Donations and charges. A small “donation” of £1 is requested from Members attending a lecture (visiting non-members are invited to contribute £2). From time to time, the Club also receives voluntary donations from Members and other well-wishers. These can greatly help us in maintaining and developing the Club's activities. Donations can be received by any Club Officer at any meeting, or you can contact the Chairman or Secretary using the Club's General Enquiries e-mail address. For workshops and for summer excursions which require coach transport there is a modest charge to cover the costs of vehicle and/or venue hire.

Junior members. Please note that Junior Members should be over 8 and under 16 on the 1st January. When participating in Club events, Junior Members should at all times be accompanied by an adult Member who has accepted responsibility for them. Junior Members are not eligible to serve on any Club Committees or to vote in Club decisions.

Membership information. Users who have logged in to this website may view an on-line list of the names of Club members. The Club's full records of membership information are held on a computer belonging to the Club's Membership Secretary and are for the sole use of the Club's Executive Officers, and then solely for Club purposes. They consist of names, home addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of each member. Any Member has the option to request that his / her entry is deleted from the computer. At no time will these computer records or any printed form of them be made available to any other organization or business.